JANUARY 20 IS COMING! WHAT DO WE EXPECT FROM TRUMP AND HOW CAN YOU PREPARE?

First I want to acknowledge the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers' Guild for giving us a lot of this information to help the community as part of the National Immigration Project.

First of all, we have to say that we don't know exactly what Trump is going to do starting January 20. We know that he and his people have talked about a lot of negative programs, how they are going to start deportations and actions against the immigrant population. They have not said in detail how the plans will work, but in this article we will see what his objectives can do and how you can protect yourself and immigrant communities.

TRUMP HAS TALKED ABOUT MASS DEPORTATIONS. - WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

In his campaign, Trump has talked quite a bit about mass deportations of immigrants who are not here legally and has appointed his new so-called “border czar” or special oficial in charge of the bo, Tom Homan, a long-time official who has a super anti-immigrant policy. We know that they are going to start first with people who have been convicted of crimines and also people who have final orders of deportation or removal. A final order of deportation is when a person has lost their case in immigration court and has not appealed or has lost before the appeals board as well and also includes many, many people who have orders of deportation for their failure to attend immigration court. This also includes people who are also under orders of supervision where they must report to immigration after review of the deportation order.

We don't know 100% what they are going to do with people who already have deportation orders and how quickly they are going to do it, but you should be prepared. It is very likely that they are going to try to force immigrants under orders of supervision to leave the US.

We don't know if they are going to try to detain people when they go for their supervision interviews. However, it is doubtful that they will do so at the first interviews of the year after January 20, even if they have a deportation order, because they will not have enough space or money yet to detain that many people. If you don't go to your supervision interview out of fear of deportation, you could get into more trouble with Immigration for not attending your interview. If you have an immigration interview in January or February you should consult with your immigration attorney. As the year progresses we will know more and inform people accordingly.

Another thing we think they are going to do is to end what is called the enforcement priorities or the priorities that the Biden administration put in place when they were protecting people who did not have big immigration problems and so they were letting them stay in the U.S. Obviously Trump does not agree with these discretionary programs and most likely they are going to start ordering court appearances or follow through with deportations with people even though they were under Biden's protections before.

PEOPLE WHO ARE LAWFUL PERMANENT RESIDENTS OF THE U.S.

There should be nothing to fear for them right now because they can only be deported if they have committed certain crimes and because they almost always have the right to defend themselves in immigration court, although you should understand that people with convictions are always at risk of being deported.

For undocumented people who are detained and booked by the police, for example, they are at serious risk of being detained by ICE and this is regardless of whether or not they committed the crime for which they were arrested. This is also because when local police book a person, they check their fingerprints against an FBI database and this is shared directly with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

These individuals can then be detained and often times transferred to ICE. They are always able to request parole on bond, but it depends on the crimes they have been convicted of and their immigration history whether or not they will get it.

Obviously more than ever it is very important that undocumented persons and also documented immigrants use great care in trying not to violate the law, including the most common offenses such as driving under the influence of alcohol or unpleasantness between partners that can be considered domestic violence. Also try not to drive if you do not have a U.S. license although we believe that the program in the state of Michigan in areas like Grand Rapids where they let people drive with licenses from other countries will continue, but we do not know what will happen, especially in areas outside of Grand Rapids and other places where they have recognized foreign licenses. Use extreme caution.

REACTIVATION AND EXPANSION OF THE ACCELERATED EXPULSION PROGRAM

We also believe that a program that is called “expedited removal,” that is where people are kicked out or deported and without hearings, is going to increase with Trump's new term.

This program means that people who are in the following situations will not have the opportunity to appear in front of a judge with the exception for those who request a hearing to evaluate their fear of returning to their country; something called “credible fear”. I will post an article later on this concept of “credible fear”. It is only of utmost importance that if you are afraid of returning to your country that you mention it to the immigration officer and ask for an interview so that you can explain your fear.

The expedited removal program that existed during the first Trump administration applied to individuals:

1. who arrived at a border or port of entry without permission.
2. arriving by sea who did not have permission to enter and who had entered the U.S. during the last two years.
3. People who were arrested from between 100 miles from the border including the coast during the last 14 days.

During Trump's previous term they tried to expand the latter group to include people who had entered within the last two years. There were cases in the courts to debate the legality of that and they did not come to a definitive conclusion, but it is likely that the Trump administration will try to expand it again.

You should understand and remember the following about expedited removal: you are not subject to expedited removal if you

1. Have any type of status or have had permission to enter the U.S. including parol, even if you have also been placed in immigration proceedings
2. Have lived in the U.S. for at least two years, although you have to prove with evidence and using documents how long you have lived here.
3. You are a minor under 18 years of age and are not accompanied by immediate relatives
4. You have a credible fear of returning to your home country. If you say you are afraid, you must be given an interview to ask you about the fear to see if it is valid under immigration law. If you pass the interview you are allowed to apply for asylum, withholding of deportation or protection under the Convention Against Torture.

Also people who are in deportation proceedings, although they are not finished, cannot be deported until the proceedings are finished.

This is the first part of a two-part series of articles I'm going to do concerning what we can expect in the Trump administration. We will talk about other things including raids and other things you can do to prepare for the Trump administration in the next article.